MIAMI — Ruben Amaro Jr. had plenty of aggressive moments as general manager. Friday, he started what will be an interesting exercise in patience.

After watching Chase Utley spend a month testing his skills at third base in pregame workouts, Amaro decided that playing the veteran at the hot corner for a week at the end of the season wouldn’t give him enough comfort to base his offseason moves on such a change.

So, Chase Utley won’t play third base this season, and probably won’t play there in 2013, either.

“It’s kind of on hold now, I guess,” Amaro said. “I think he’s made progress at third base. I don’t know if it’s a matter whether he can do it, I think it’s more a matter of practicality and what’s really best for the team overall.

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“In retrospect, it would be difficult to make a real assessment in six games, to watch this guy play and say, ‘OK, we know Chase Utley is going to be an average defender and better for our team.’ That’s a very difficult thing to be able to assess. None of us are good enough scouts to be able to do that.”

“While having that option would be helpful, I don’t know if it’s really an option that’s going to make us necessarily better.”

Amaro and Charlie Manuel had closed-door meetings with Utley and Jimmy Rollins prior to Friday’s game against the Marlins. They will do the same with the other key veterans in coming days.

Utley’s interview included the decision to shelf the third-base idea. However, Amaro said nothing has changed about the free-agent market at third base. He still considers it weak.

What has given the Phillies reason for optimism is that both Utley (chronically sore knees) and Ryan Howard (reconstructive Achilles’ tendon surgery) have had no real physical setbacks since missing the first half of the season. With the rest of the infield as healthy as it has been in a few years, and the Phillies making it clear they will pursue a high-profile outfielder this winter, they believe Freddy Galvis and perhaps a solid backup could be enough at least to open 2013.

“Freddy could play third,” Amaro said. “We could try to find somebody from the outside to play third. (Kevin) Frandsen could play third. We still have some options.”

If that doesn’t prove to be enough clout, or if injuries again start to gut the middle of the lineup, making an in-season trade always is one of those options.

However, Manuel is a big proponent of Galvis getting a chance to show his stuff.

“I think Freddy can play third defensively. I don’t see it being a problem,” Manuel said. “He can play short, second, or third.

“I think the biggest thing about Freddy is can we find him 375, 425 at-bats. I think that would keep him sharp as a player and in a development stage — I think we definitely can get Freddy at-bats.”

NOTES: Roy Halladay starts Saturday night for the Phillies, and Manuel doesn’t believe there will be a need to limit his pitch count, even though the right-hander was hampered by muscle spasms in his shoulder a week ago and thrashed for seven runs in two innings by the Braves. “We’ll watch him and see how he’s doing,” Manuel said. “We definitely aren’t going to over-pitch him. We’ll see. We can take care of him. It’s not like we’re going to let him overdo it. I just want him to pitch the way he’s capable of doing, let him get loose and feel going about himself.” Amaro said the Phillies are specifically in the market for a right-handed power bat. Although Darin Ruf’s monstrous Double-A season and impressive hitting in his first handful of starts with the Phillies has boosted his standing, Amaro is reluctant to think Ruf can be an everyday player in 2013. “Darin Ruf could be part of the solution,” he said. “It’s kind of tough to put that on the kid right now and count on him and say, ‘OK you know what, you’re going to be the other right-handed compliment to the rest of this club.’ But you can’t rule him out because he’s a pretty good hitter. We don’t know how good yet.”